The Bush Administration endorsed a plan on Wednesday by Senator Richard
Lugar, the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, that
will double spending on conservation farming, according to The Washington
Post. The plan will also phase out crop subsidies, reduce assistance to
cotton and corn growers and increase assistance to farmers raising fruit,
vegetables and livestock. Farmers will be given money to buy insurance
to protect against drops in revenue to replace the crop subsidies.

Current conventional farming practices incur environmental contamination
due to the use of pesticides as well as a devastating loss of precious
topsoil. Pesticides applied to crops and fields have poisoned our food
and groundwater, human and wildlife tissue. Overuse of pesticides has
also caused pesticide-resistant pest populations and more crop losses
to pests than ever before. The use of pesticides in farming can affect
non-target organisms including beneficial insects and wildlife.

One aspect of sustainable farming is conservation tillage including reduced
cultivation, preservation of crop residue and no-till. No-till means there
is no soil preparation before the next crop is grown. While this decreases
soil erosion, it increases pest problems. Overall pesticide use has been
found to increase 30% under no-till agriculture.

However, there are non-chemical solutions to pests even with the use
of conservation tillage such as crop rotation, mowing, permanent groundcovers,
hoeing and between roe cultivation. The incorporation of an Integrated
Pest Management (IPM) plan has also shown to be an effective solution.